Honouring freedom fighters, presenting awards to government officials and a host of cultural performances with patriotic themes marked the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Coimbatore district administration on the VOC Park Grounds on Thursday.
District Collector M. Karunagaran hoisted the national flag. He took the salute and accepted the guard of honour. He also gave away assistance worth Rs. 39.14 lakh to 164 beneficiaries of various social welfare schemes of the State Government.
The dog squad of the Coimbatore City Police gave a demonstration on various police procedures such as detecting contraband and also performed stunts such as jumping through rings.
Around 1,340 students from 13 schools in the district gave various cultural performances including Taekwondo martial art and Mallakhamb (a traditional Indian gymnast sport).
S. Davidson Devasirvatham, Inspector-General of Police, West Zone, A.K. Viswanathan, Commissioner of Police, and M. Sudhakar, Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore Rural, took part the celebrations along with District Revenue Officer K. Karpagam, other police and Government officials. A large number of members of the public were also present.
Awards
Several Government officials were given awards on the occasion. Among those honoured were Coimbatore Medical College Hospital doctors Isaac Christian Moses, K. Neelakandan, M. Suthandra Devi, C. Lalitha, R. Shanmugavadivu, T. Ravikumar and K.P. Mohanasundari besides Poomani, nursing superintendent, T. Shanmugakumar, hospital worker and Dr. Sumathi, Chief of Family Welfare Department.
Gram Sabha
Gram Sabha meetings were held at all the village panchayats in the district. The District Collector took part in the Gram Sabha meeting held at the Kondampalayam Panchayat in Sirckar Samakulam Panchayat Union. He spoke about the audit proceedings of fair price shops, local body expenditures, educational schemes and other Government schemes.
Corporation
Mayor S.M. Velusamy hoisted the national flag at the Corporation Main Office at Town Hall and honoured top scorers of Corporation Schools in Class X and XII Board Examinations. He also rewarded children of conservancy workers who had performed well in the Board Examinations.
Commissioner G. Latha and Deputy Commissioner S. Sivarasu were present along with other officials of the civic body.
Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore) Manager Director I. Devarajan hoisted the flag on the TNSTC premises in the presence of General Manager E. Kannabiran. They also honoured Rajendran (52) and Ravikumar (49), driver and conductor of a TNSTC city bus, who had taken part in the rescue efforts after a fire had broken out on April 25 in a commercial complex here.
Around 500 saplings were planted on the premises of Central Reserve Police Force’s 105 Rapid Action Force Battalion at Vellalore here to mark the Independence Day. Commandant P.P. Pauly hoisted the flag.
M. Shahul Hameed, Deputy Director of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (Western Region), hoisted the national flag and took the salute.
He also presented the Chief Minister’s medal to 24 personnel for their meritorious services. S.R. Chandran, District Fire and Rescue Services Officer, Coimbatore Division, took part in the function along with other officers.
Blood donation
Sixty seven youngsters donated blood at a camp organised at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital on Thursday by the Power of Youth Hands Trust, Universal Welfare Foundation and Rotary Club of Coimbatore Legends.
Tirupur
Ceremonial parades, distribution of welfare assistance, honouring of freedom fighters’ kin, skill display by police special team and cultural programmes by students marked the Independence Day celebrations organised by district administration here.
Collector G. Govindaraj hoisted the national flag and took salute from the police personnel. Accompanied by Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar Singh, Mr. Govindaraj then inspected a guard of honour given by the police and home guards men.
The kin of freedom fighters were honoured at the function.
A total of 47 police personnel including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, four Inspectors and other ranked men were given certificates by the Collector for meritorious performances.
Welfare assistance to the tune of Rs. 1.91 crore, allocated under various Government sponsored schemes, were disbursed to 279 beneficiaries. The function came to a close with the cultural programmes performed by students.
Senior officials from various departments and judicial officials were present.
In the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Tirupur Corporation administration, Mayor Visalakshi Appukutty hoisted the flag in the presence of councillors and officials.
